This invention relates to apparatuses and methods for voiding playing cards and, more particularly, to high speed machines and automated methods of voiding playing cards.
In the operation of gambling casinos, it is important to protect both the casinos and honest players from unscrupulous individuals willing to cheat at games of chance. Unfortunately, such individuals are as creative as they are unscrupulous and continually devise new methods for cheating. One tactic used by such individuals, is to bring additional cards into the casino. These additional cards are illegally introduced into casino games of chance to increase the cheaters' chances of winning.
To prevent the illegal introduction of such cards, casinos typically use playing cards with uniquely designed backs which are not available outside the casinos. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully control access to the casinos' playing cards. This becomes more difficult after playing cards have reached the end of their useful life, and the playing cards need to be discarded and replaced. To prevent discarded playing cards from being illegally introduced, casinos commonly void the cards by defacing them, so that they can be readily identified.
Discarded playing cards are commonly voided by drilling or punching a hole through the center of the cards. This process is typically performed by a manually operated drill press or punch which is capable of voiding only a limited number of cards at the same time. Therefore, the voiding process requires excessive time and labor.
Thus, it is desirable to increase the number of playing cards which can be voided in a given period of time. It is further desirable to reduce the manual labor required to void playing cards thereby reducing the costs of voiding cards.